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Tamon-ten (Vaiśravaṇa) at Tōdai-ji

The Four Guardian Kings in Burmese depiction.

The Four Heavenly Kings are four Buddhist gods, each of whom watches over one cardinal direction of the world. In Chinese mythology, they are known collectively as the "Fēng Tiáo Yǔ Shùn" (simplified Chinese: 风调雨顺; traditional Chinese: 風調雨順; literally: "Good climate") or "Sì Dà Tiānwáng" (Chinese: 四大天王; literally: "Four Great Heavenly Kings"). In the ancient language Sanskrit they are called the "Chaturmahārāja" (चतुर्महाराज), or "Chaturmahārājikādeva": "Four Great Heavenly Kings". The Hall of the Heavenly Kings is a standard component of Chinese Buddhist temples.

Names[edit]

The Kings are collectively named as follows:

The Four Heavenly Kings are said to currently live in the Cāturmahārājika heaven (Pali Cātummahārājika, "Of the Four Great Kings") on the lower slopes of Mount Sumeru, which is the lowest of the six worlds of the devas of the Kāmadhātu. They are the protectors of the world and fighters of evil, each able to command a legion of supernatural creatures to protect the Dharma.

devanagari Sanskrit romanization	वैश्रवण (कुबेर) Vaiśravaṇa (Kubera)	विरूढक Virūḍhaka	धृतराष्ट्र Dhṛtarāṣṭra	विरूपाक्ष Virūpākṣa
Meaning	he who hears everything	he who causes to grow	he who upholds the realm	he who sees all
Description	This is the chief of the four kings and protector of the north. He is the ruler of rain. His symbolic weapons are the umbrella or pagoda. Wearing heavy armor and carrying the umbrella in his right hand, he is often associated with the ancient Indian God of wealth, Kubera. Associated with the color yellow or green. Chief of the four kings and protector of the north	King of the south and one who causes good growth of roots. He is the ruler of the wind. His symbolic weapon is the sword which he carries in his right hand to protect the Dharma and the southern continent. Associated with the color blue. King of the south and one who causes good growth of roots	King of the east and God of music. His symbolic weapon is the pipa (stringed instrument). He is harmonious and compassionate and protects all beings. Uses his music to convert others to Buddhism. Associated with the color white. King of the east and God of music	King of the west and one who sees all. His symbolic weapon is a snake or red cord that is representative of a dragon. As the eye in the sky, he sees people who do not believe in Buddhism and converts them. His ancient name means "he who has broad objectives". Associated with the color red. King of the west and one who sees all
Color	yellow or green	blue	white	red
Symbol	umbrella	sword	pipa	serpent
	mongoose			stupa
	stupa			pearl
Followers	yakṣas	kumbhāṇḍas	gandharvas	nāgas
Direction	north	south	east	west
Traditional/Simplified Chinese Pinyin	多聞天王 / 多闻天王 Duō Wén Tiānwáng	增長天王 / 增长天王 Zēng Zhǎng Tiānwáng	持國天王 / 持国天王 Chí Guó Tiānwáng	廣目天王 / 广目天王 Guăng Mù Tiānwáng
	毗沙門天 / 毗沙门天	留博叉天 / 留博叉天	多羅吒天 / 多罗吒天	毗琉璃天 / 毗琉璃天
Kanji Hepburn romanization	多聞天 (毘沙門天) Tamon-ten (Bishamon-ten)	増長天 Zōchō-ten	持国天 Jikoku-ten	広目天 Kōmoku-ten
			治国天 Jikoku-ten
Hangul Hanja romanized Korean	다문천왕 多聞天王 Damun-cheonwang	증장천왕 增長天王 Jeungjang-cheonwang	지국천왕 持國天王 Jiguk-cheonwang	광목천왕 廣目天王 Gwangmok-cheonwang
Sino-Vietnamese	Đa Văn Thiên	Tăng Trưởng Thiên	Trì Quốc Thiên	Quảng Mục Thiên
Tibetan alphabet and romanization	རྣམ་ཐོས་སྲས་ (Namthöse)	ཕགས་སྐྱེས་པོ་ (Phakyepo)	ཡུལ་འཁོར་སྲུང་ (Yülkhorsung)	སྤྱན་མི་བཟང་ (Chenmizang)

• Four Heavenly Kings statues at the royal crematorium of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand


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  Vaiśravaṇa of the north direction, king of yakṣas.
  

  
  

  
  


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  Virūḍhaka of the south direction, king of kumbhāṇḍas.
  

  
  

  
  


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  Dhṛtarāṣṭra of the east direction, king of gandharvas.
  

  
  

  
  


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  Virūpākṣa of the west direction, king of nāgas.
  

  
  

  
  

Mythology[edit]

All four Kings serve Śakra, the lord of the devas of Trāyastriṃśa. On the 8th, 14th and 15th days of each lunar month, the Kings either send out emissaries or go themselves to inspect the state of virtue and morality in the world of men. Then they report their findings to the assembly of the Trāyastriṃśa devas.

On the orders of Śakra, the Kings and their retinues stand guard to protect Trāyastriṃśa from another attack by the Asuras, which once threatened to destroy the realm of the devas. They also vowed to protect the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Buddha's followers from danger.

Statues of the Four Heavenly Kings. From left to right: Vaiśravaṇa, Virūḍhaka, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and Virūpākṣa.

According to Vasubandhu, devas born in the Cāturmahārājika heaven are 1/4 of a krośa in height (about 750 feet tall). They have a five-hundred-year lifespan, of which each day is equivalent to 50 years in our world; thus their total lifespan amounts to about nine million years (other sources say 90,000 years).

Painting of Kōmokuten (Virūpākṣa), the Guardian of the West (one of the Four Guardian Kings). 13th century.

The attributes borne by each King also link them to their followers; for instance, the nāgas, magical creatures who can change form between human and serpent, are led by Virūpākṣa, represented by a snake; the gandharvas are celestial musicians, led by Dhṛtarāṣṭra, represented with a lute. The umbrella was a symbol of regal sovereignty in ancient India, and the sword is a symbol of martial prowess. Vaiśravaṇa's mongoose, which ejects jewels from its mouth, is said to represent generosity in opposition to greed.

• Statues of the Four Heavenly Kings of Jikō-ji, Takasago, Hyōgo, Japan.


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  Jikoku-ten (east)
  

  
  

  
  


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  Zōjō-ten (south)
  

  
  

  
  


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  Kōmoku-ten (west)
  

  
  

  
  


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  Tamon-ten (north)
  

  
  

  
  

In popular culture[edit]

• The Spice Boys are a collective of antagonists called 魔族四天王 (Mazoku Shitennō, lit. Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Clan) in the anime Dragonball Z.


• The Elite Four from the Pokémon franchise are known as the Four Heavenly Kings in the original Japanese.


• The Four Guardians from the video game series Mega Man Zero are known as the Four Heavenly Kings in the original Japanese.


• The Four Kings of Heaven (or Negacommanders in the original English dub) is the collective name of four antagonists in the Sailor Moon franchise.


• The Four Heavenly Kings is an association of aliens in Ultraman Mebius.


• The Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi from The King of Fighters video game series.
  


• The Four Heavenly Kings is a group of four powerful "Gourmet Hunters" in the anime/manga Toriko.
  


• The Elite Four from the anime Kill la Kill are known as the Four Heavenly Kings in the original Japanese.


• The Four Heavenly Kings of Shadaloo from Street Fighter However Sagat is later replaced by Fang in Street Fighter V.

See also[edit]

• Guardians of the directions


• Bacab


• Lokapala


• Tetramorph


• Titan (mythology)


• Anemoi


• Four Dwarves (Norse Mythology)


• Four Stags (Norse Mythology)

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Four Heavenly Kings.

• Schumacher, Mark. "Shitenno - Four Heavenly Kings (Deva) of Buddhism, Guarding Four Cardinal Directions". Digital Dictionary of Buddhism in Japan.